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This Week in Politics: A fiery Senate debate; DeSantis vs. Crist is next, but nearly 1 million Floridians have already voted

We are wrapping up all the political happenings this week.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This Week in Politics…we are in the wake of the first and only Senate debate and are now gearing up for the lone gubernatorial debate on Monday.

There was national attention on the debate between Republican incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic challenger Val Demings this week. A race that has seen Demings raise more money, but Rubio holds a consistent lead in polling with the balance of power in the U.S. Senate at stake next month.

Tuesday’s fiery debate, saw the two candidates sparring over abortion, guns and their records.

RELATED: Demings, Rubio discuss abortion, voting rights, insurance during debate

Expect more fireworks Monday, where similar issues will be debated by Incumbent Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist on Monday in Fort Pierce as they face-off for the first and only time ahead of Election Day.

Too late to debate? More than a million Floridians will have already voted by the time the candidates for governor debate for the first time.

As of Thursday morning, more than 950,000 people have turned in their vote-by-mail ballots.

That could be a sign of a large turnout this election.

Midterm turnout is typically lower than in presidential election years, but in 2018 Florida saw a relatively huge midterm turnout at 63%.

We do know this year there are a million more registered voters in the state than there were in 2018.

Republican candidates will like the latest voter registration data from the end of September, as the number of Republican voters in the state (5,259,406) continues to outpace the number of Democratic voters (4,966,873)—a trend that started in 2021.

Early voting kicks off next week, giving folks who prefer to vote in person a chance to skip potential election day lines.

Election officials have been testing voter equipment for accuracy ahead of time.

To find early voting times, locations and more, check out our 10 Tampa Bay voter toolkit.

RELATED: Check out county-by-county guide for early voting in the November election

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